Diego Maradona: how his genius shone in his last game in Argentina



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One of the most famous and most important maxims of the theater is to always leave the crowd wanting more.

And as one of the most theatrical footballers to ever play international soccer, Diego Maradona certainly did, though not by choice.

That Maradona left the World Cup in USA ’94 after failing a drug test is well remembered, allied, albeit wrongly, to his wide-eyed celebration of scoring against Greece in a group match.

Popular memory joins the drug test with that celebration and thinks they were the same party.

But really, it was after Argentina’s next game, against Nigeria in Boston, that Maradona failed his test.

And it was a game in which he had shown that he was still at the absolute peak of his powers, at least in a blue and white shirt.

The unanswered question, of course, is how much is due to drugs.

The subtle trick Although his club career had started to wane – he had spent an ineffective season at Sevilla in 1992/93 before returning to Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina – Maradona had always been able to improve his game for his national team.

And against Nigeria in Group D on June 25, 1994, it was so good that there was talk that it inspired them to their third consecutive World Cup final.

First, though, there was a huge shock to deal with: Nigeria had gone ahead after just eight minutes.

It was through a counterattack that was absolutely typical of the Super Eagles at the time.

Rightly, Rashidi Yekini showed Maradona’s ability to fight his way through two Argentine midfielders at once before placing Samson Siasia.

Siasia had all the time in the world to chip Luis Islas; the Argentine goalkeeper was so far from his goal that he had crossed an international date line.

Briefly, it looked like it could be the second time in two World Cups that Argentina had been outscored by African rivals, following their 1-0 loss to Cameroon that opened Italy ’90, which remains one of the biggest upsets in history. of the tournament. .

But it wasn’t going to be.

And usually, that was mainly due to Maradona.

The draw especially featured a forgotten trick so subtle, so clever, that it showed the very pinnacle of who Maradona was.

In the 21st minute, Argentina won a free kick about 25 meters from goal, a dangerous position, but not indefensible.

As Nigeria raised its wall, both Maradona and Gabriel Batistuta, who had already proven to be one of the best strikers in Serie A and therefore in Europe at the time, kept the same distance from the ball; Batistuta on the left, Maradona on the right.

Both were renowned dead ball specialists, so the Nigerian wall was cautious.

Both of them had sped up a lot, indicating that he needed to fire a powerful shot.

When the referee’s whistle blew, it was Maradona who moved first.

Waiting for the ball to come flying over Maradona’s left foot, the Nigerian wall moved to the right.

But instead, Maradona deftly, gracefully, with the precision of a ballerina landing on her toes, threw the ball back, down to the exact blade of grass Batistuta was running toward.

His mannequin had done its job.

Batistuta’s shot echoed through the empty space from where the Nigerian wall had moved.

Nigeria goalkeeper Peter Rufai did well to reach the goal, but only hit Claudio Caniggia, who crashed him.

‘Libertad de Massachusetts’ And seven minutes later, Argentina went ahead, again armed with a free kick from Maradona.

If the first was all about skill, the second was about cunning.

Maradona had the ball in the center of the field and played it almost without doing anything towards Caniggia, but before the forward could do something with it, the referee signaled a free kick from where Maradona had passed it.

Maradona theatrically grabbed the ball, put it down and raised his hands.

He made a gesture waving all his fingers in the air.

To everyone, and certainly to all Nigerian players, it seemed like he was planning something extravagant that they would have to prepare for.

But instead, he suddenly threw the ball over to where Caniggia had been waiting, furiously yelling “Diego! Diego!” Nigeria’s defense was completely cold.

They had been waiting for a long delay while Maradona thought of a way to get through their defenses, but instead he and Caniggia had just passed through the front door.

“Caniggia was released from Massachusetts there,” John Motson said in a BBC comment.

He was right, but it was Maradona who gave him the keys to the state.

There is no turning back Although the game would continue to flow for most of the match and would be one of the most entertaining of the entire tournament, there were no more goals.

And, although no one knew it at the time, there would be no more for Maradona in an Argentina jersey.

Soon after, news came that he had tested positive for drugs in a test conducted in Argentina’s previous match, a 4-0 win over Greece in which Maradona had scored the third.

And it was his reaction to that goal, wide-eyed, staring straight down the barrel of the touchline camera, that suddenly defined him.

Yes, of course he was onto something, viewers said, he just looked like it.

Without its inspiring captain, the team that had reached the last two World Cup finals went to Romania in the round of 16.

Would Maradona have been so good against Nigeria if he hadn’t taken ephedrine? It is impossible to know.

It did not materially affect the World Cup, as other results meant that Nigeria topped the group anyway.

Although Maradona later contested the drug test, saying it was caused by a difference in ingredients between a brand of beverage in Argentina and the United States, to no avail.

It was out of the blue and white stripes and would not return.

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